Bound to the Past
by caitlinlewellyn
Summary: Sequel to The Truth of Secrets (/s/9362635/1/The-Truth-of-Secrets). Cortese is back, but not for long as her past comes back to haunt her...
1. The New Case

"All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them." -Galileo

Cortese was woken up by a text message from Hotch. She rolled over in bed, unplugged her phone, and looked at it. 'Got a case, be at Quantico in thirty!' Cortese turned over in her bed, lying on Reid's chest. "Hey, we got to go to work." She got up and grabbed her clothes. "First day back and already got a case." She walked off to the bathroom.

Reid watched her walk off. "God, how did _I_ get her?" He smiled.

Cortese came back five minutes later, pulling her wet hair into a ponytail. She saw Reid still in bed, went over to her side of the bed, grabbed a pillow, and threw it at him. "Get up!"

"Hey!" Reid pulled her into bed. "That hurt." He kissed her.

Cortese kissed him back and flipped him out of bed. "Well you're up." She smirked. "Now get dressed. I'm going to work. It'll be your arse in trouble and not mine if you arrive late. Oh and clean the lipstick off your face." She went out to the driveway and started her car.

* * *

"Hey Genevieve." JJ yawned as Cortese walked into the office; she was placing the team's iPads on the round table. "Good to see you back here."

Cortese sat at her seat and smiled at JJ. "Good to be back. That was the longest month of my life. Thank you again for coming over when you had time."

"No problem. I have a feeling you would have been bored if you didn't have company. Of course Reid was there a lot. How are you two doing?" JJ smirked, loving that Reid had found someone like Genevieve.

"We're doing well. He's so sweet." Cortese smiled.

The rest of the team came in moments later. "So the reason we called you in so early is because…" Garcia pulled up a picture of a blonde haired girl onto the screen. "…this girl's parents were murdered this morning."

"Allison?" Cortese shook her head, recognizing the girl on the screen instantly.

"You know her?" JJ asked.

"Allison Walker. I used to be her nanny. Is she not talking to a translator?" Cortese asked. "She doesn't like to talk to hearing people. Never has. She doesn't think hearing people understand what she are going through, so she rather not talk to them."

"You think you can talk to her and she'll listen?" Hotch asked. "Or do you think she won't remember you?"

"I can try." Cortese stood up along with the rest of the team and followed Hotch to where Allison was.


	2. The Victim

"Do you think she'll actually talk to us since you're here, Gen?" Reid asked.

"I don't know… She might." Cortese answered and walked over to the translator. "I'm going to try to talk to her if you don't mind." She signed and said to the translator.

"You should probably tell her who we are first." Reid suggested

"Kid, she knows what she is doing." Morgan told him.

Cortese signed to the girl. "Hey Ally. I don't know if you remember me, I used to watch you when your mom and dad were at work. My name is Genevieve Cortese and…" She points to each of them. "…this is Derek Morgan, Jennifer Jareau, Aaron Hotchner, David Rossi, and Spencer Reid."

"You think you can tell us what you are saying Cortese?" Hotch asked.

"Of course, I just told her who we are." Cortese told him.

"That's a start." Morgan said.

"I remember you." Ally signed.

"What did she say?" JJ asked.

"She remembers me." She told JJ, while signing for Ally so she knew what they were saying.

"Good Ally. Can you tell me what happened this morning?" Cortese signed and said aloud so the team could understand.

"All I remember is when he came into my room. I was sleeping and he woke me, I was so scared. He took me into my parents' room and showed me that he had killed them. He never let me see his face, but he was about six foot. I don't really want to talk about this anymore right now." Ally signed.

Cortese told the team what she said. "You did really well. Here is my cell phone number call if you need anything. I still have my Video Relay Service." She signed to Ally and gave Ally her card with her cell phone number on the back.

"Do they know what happened to you? Do they know about you being hard of hearing?" Ally signed, but Cortese didn't repeat it.

"No they don't. I have hearing aids now, so it's easier for me to understand them. That's why I can be here to help you. I can hear just enough on my own to be in the FBI." Cortese signed.

Ally said goodbye and left with her grandparents.

"Someone should go with Miss Walker in case he comes back for her." Hotch said.

"They have a car over there, but one of our team should go too. I think it should be Cortese, since she is the only one who can communicate with her." JJ suggested.

"I'll come with you Cortese." Morgan said, following Cortese to the car lot. "So where to?" He got into the driver's seat and started the car.

"733 15th St. NW, Washington DC." Genevieve told him from memory. "It's near The White House. I met Bill Clinton when I watched Ally once. This should be a fun forty-five minutes."

"What a lucky little lady, met a president and you get to spend forty-five minutes in a car with me." Morgan laughed.


	3. The Situation

"Before we go in, do you mind telling me what's going on exactly with you and Reid? When the kid's around you he gets all flustered." Morgan laughed, parking the car in front of the apartment building.

"You profilers…" Cortese laughed and got out of the car.

"Hey Cortese!" He followed her and grabbed her arm. "Don't I have a right to ask?!"

"What gives you that right Morgan?!" Cortese yanked her arm out of his grasp.

"Well I am his best friend to begin with. Do you know how long I've been trying to get him with a girl? A very long time." Morgan laughed.

Cortese laughed and heard a loud noise from inside the building. "Did you hear that?" She looked in the cop car out front. "Morgan… they're dead." She pulled her gun out and went up to their apartment, the door was locked. She kicked it down, going inside. As soon as she entered the apartment she dropped down to her knees, covering her ears. There was a strong electromagnetic frequency messing with her hearing aids.

"Cortese?!" Morgan knelt down beside her. "What's wrong?!"

She waved him away. "Go find Ally!"

"Call Hotch!" He stood up and ran into another room, looking for Ally. He tried to use his radio, but it wasn't working. "Officers down! Send backup!"

Cortese called Hotch, but the phone just made the high pitched sound worse. "Morgan!" She took out her hearing aids, trying to get the noise to stop. She stumbled into the spare bedroom. "She's in here!" Ally tried to warn her, but it was too late. The unsub came up behind her and hit her in the head with a lamp.


	4. The Unsub

Morgan came into the room. The unsub had Genevieve's gun to her head. "Whoa!" Morgan aimed his gun at the unsub. "Put the gun down!"

The unsub glared at him. "You won't shoot me, because you know that she will die."

"Come on buddy, you don't have to do that. Just put the gun down and we can talk." Morgan told him.

Cortese signed to Ally. "Go play in the tunnels." Ally went into the closet and disappeared.

"I am going to ask you one more time to put the gun down." Morgan tried to talk the unsub down.

"She is so pretty…" The unsub ran the gun up and down Cortese's face. "Just like her mother." He smirked.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Morgan asked, confused.

"Did she not tell you? Genevieve was always very shy. My father killed her parents and she is the reason they killed him! You shouldn't have survived Genevieve!"

"Adrian?" Cortese asked.

"Hello beautiful." Adrian smiled.

"You can't take this out on her. There is no reason to; it will only get you into more trouble. Listen, I'm giving you a chance to set the gun down and forget everything that happened here. You can get help." Morgan tried once again to talk him down.

"She deserves it!" Adrian yelled. He tightened his grip around Cortese's neck.

"No she doesn't." Morgan said.

"I might as well put her out of her misery. Guess who else is looking for you Genevieve. He'll make it hurt! You know he will."

Cortese reached down slowly and took out the knife strapped onto her ankle. Morgan saw what she was doing and backed up a bit. Cortese stabbed Adrian's hand that was around her neck, took her gun back, and pointed it at him.

"Nice move." Morgan said to her.

"Thanks." Cortese gave Morgan her gun and handcuffed Adrian.

"Did you get a hold of Hotch?" Morgan asked. Cortese looked at him, confused. "When I told you to call him, is the rest of the team coming? We have to go find Ally."

Hotch burst into the room. "FBI!"

"You're a little late…" Morgan laughed and took Adrian from Cortese.

"Sorry. I got Cortese's call, but she wasn't talking… You two alright?" Hotch asked.

"Yeah, I am. Cortese seems alright too." Morgan told him. "You okay?" He asked Cortese.

Cortese looked at both Hotch and Morgan, confused. "Cortese?!" Hotch shook her a bit.

"Yo!" Morgan handed Adrian over to one of the officers. "Cortese?"

"She can't hear you!" Adrian laughed.

"What?!" Morgan placed his hand on Cortese's shoulder. "She can't hear us? Hotch, call a medic or something!"

"I'll be fine, Morgan." Cortese told him, and then looked at Hotch. "Did Ally get out alright?"

Hotch nodded. "A neighbor found her in their closet. There are secret passageways throughout the building."

"Tunnels…" Cortese smiled. She put her hand on the back of her head, and then looked at it. Blood.


	5. The Reality

"Is everyone alright?" Cortese ran outside to the others.

"Gen!" Reid ran over to her, hugging her tight. "Oh my God! What happened?"

JJ came over. "Hey Cortese, you think you can translate what Ally is saying?"

"No problem." Cortese smiled and walked over to Ally. "Hey. Are you okay? Did he hurt you?" She signed.

Ally signed to her as the rest of the team talked amongst each other. "What do you mean she can't hear?!" Reid yelled, going over to Cortese. "Hey." He rubbed her arm. "What happened in there?"

"I'm hard of hearing from the bomb that went off in my house when my parents died. I can hear well enough that I can be in the FBI, but sometimes it's hard, so I wear hearing aids. Adrian used some type of electromagnetic frequency to mess with them and make it harder for me to hear." Cortese told him. "Hotch! Go check the cellar. He put Ally's grandparents in there."

Hotch nodded and ran to the cellar on the side of the apartment building.

"Babe, you need to go to the hospital. I'll come with, but we need to get your head looked at and your ears too. Your head looks like you have a concussion." Reid held a towel to the back of her head.

"I'll be okay." Cortese smiled.

"He's right Cortese. You two go to the hospital, we will be there once we are done here." Rossi told them.

Cortese stumbled while walking back to the ambulance and Reid caught her. "Whoa. Let's get you to the hospital." He smiled.

Hotch came back after finding Allison's grandparents. "I don't know how she manages to put up a fight with nearly two injuries." Hotch said to Rossi, while she watched Cortese get in the ambulance with Allison and Reid.

"She's strong." Rossi smiled.

"Yeah, but if she keeps it up she could get really hurt one day… I can't have her end up to be another Emily Prentiss. The team won't be able to handle that, especially Reid." Hotch responded.

"It's not her fault unsubs are drawn to her. We will be ready this time. She won't end up like Prentiss because we know what is going on with her unlike what happened with Emily." Rossi laughed lightly.

"I know that, but she needs to consider her own safety before jumping into dangerous situations." Hotch said as they got in the car and drove to the hospital.


	6. The Solution

After examining Genevieve, the doctor came over to talk to Hotch. "I can send her home, but I wouldn't suggest her being alone."

"I see. How long will her hearing be impaired?" Hotch asked.

"Well she was very smart when she took out the hearing aids; she could have gone completely deaf. She should be able to hear again by tonight." The doctor told him.

"Okay, I'll talk to one of the team and see if they wouldn't mind maybe staying over at her place tonight, and maybe checking up on her from time to time until she can start working again." Hotch told him and then walked to the cubicle the team was in.

"No, I can't stay here! He will stop at nothing to get to me and when he does I can't let him hurt any of you!" Cortese yelled. She tried to fight off Morgan, who was holding her back.

"Hey, it's alright Cortese. They are sending you home. One of us will stay with you, just for tonight." Hotch told her.

"She's trying to leave the state." Morgan informed him.

"What? Why?" Hotch asked Cortese.

"Adrian has a brother. He will come after me and when he does he will kill my family to get to me. I have to leave. He will come to find me and will leave you all alone." Cortese explained.

"We'll book you a hotel outside of the city, just until we get it sorted out." JJ told her.

"I am not worried about my own safety!" Cortese yelled.

"You don't have to worry about us. It's all going to be okay." JJ smiled and went to book the hotel room.

Reid took Cortese's hand in both of his and looked into her eyes. "Please don't leave. I'll stay with you in a hotel until we find this guy. He won't hurt any of us. Just please, don't leave."

"I'm not worried about him hurting me! Let me help you find him." Cortese looked back into Reid's eyes.

"No, you need to rest. Just for a couple days, we can keep you updated. I booked you and Reid a room." JJ told her.

"Let's get them there as soon as possible." Hotch said.

"Sounds good. Are you ready to go, Cortese?" JJ asked.

"Yeah." Cortese said. JJ drove Reid and Genevieve over to the hotel. Cortese rested her head on Reid's chest in the back seat.

"I won't let anyone hurt you Genevieve Cortese." Reid stroked her hair.

* * *

"Thank you JJ and tell the others thanks for me too." Cortese told JJ when they got to their room.

"I will. If you need anything at all you know who to call." JJ handed Cortese her room key. "Make sure Reid doesn't bore you to death."

Cortese laughed. "Okay JJ. Oh wait! Garcia probably already figured this out, but Adrian's brother's name is Peter Burke."

"Thank you." JJ laughed. "I'll let her know."

Cortese shut the door and turned to Reid, she stumbled into his arms when she walked toward the bed. "Sorry…"

"You should sit down, Gen." Reid laid her down and then lied next to her. "How are you feeling?"

"Other than the headache I have from the concussion, the fact I can barely hear you, and that someone is trying to kill me? I'm fine." She smiled as he yawned. "You tired?"

"Yes, kind of." Reid sat up. "Of course, if you need me to stay up. I will."

"You can go to the bathroom and I will get ready in here." Cortese kissed him and gave him his pajamas.


	7. The Brother

Reid went into the bathroom got changed into his pajamas and called Morgan. "Dude help! I know I'm with her, but I am still really nervous around her."

"Hey kid. Just calm down, she likes you. She likes you for who you are. You don't need me giving you any advice." Morgan told him.

"Yeah, I guess so. Thanks dude." Reid smiled.

Cortese just barely walked into the bathroom. "Spencer?"

"Morgan, I'm gonna have to call you back." Reid hung up. "What is it, pumpkin?"

Peter pushed her into the room, sending Reid onto the floor and his head hit the toilet. "Hello, Spencer is it?"

"How the hell did you get in here?!" Reid yelled at him, putting Cortese behind him, protectively.

"Let's just say crime scene clean up may need to clean up a maid in the room next to yours." Peter laughed.

"I'm sorry, he just came in." Cortese sniffled.

"She used to love me, you know the way she loves you and now she is pointing guns at me. That isn't very nice, now is it sweetheart?" Peter smiled at her.

"She used to… love you?" Reid felt like his heart was being torn into two pieces.

"We were four and we were friends Peter! You were the one with the weird obsession!" Cortese yelled at him. "Just like your father!"

"Shut up!" Peter pointed the gun at her.

Reid put her directly behind him. "Leave her alone! She never did anything to you!"

"I am just finishing my father's work, but I had to make sure someone would miss her first." Peter laughed and then became serious. "She survived and my father is dead because of that! Now you stay here, while I take Genevieve and if you try anything, I will kill her!"

"You wouldn't dare…" Reid squeezed her hand.

"Baby, I have to go with him. It will be okay." Genevieve kissed Reid. "I love you." She had never actually told him that before.


	8. The Game

As soon as Cortese and Peter left, Reid called Morgan back. "Hey kid! How's it going with Cortese?" Morgan answered.

"Yeah, we have a problem. Peter is here and he has her in the other room. He's going to kill her if I try anything." Reid informed him.

"What?! We are on our way!" Morgan told him. Reid didn't respond, because he heard the door to the room open and close. "Kid, you still there?"

"Yeah, I think he just left with her." Reid told him. "What should I do?"

"Stay there we can't have you dying, kid." Morgan ordered. "Genevieve's phone is on the line with Hotch Peter is talking, but she isn't saying anything."

"If anything happens to Gen while I just sit here, I swear you'll be the one to pay!" Reid told him.

"Got it, kid. We will find her, okay? You won't lose the one girl who means something to you." Morgan hung up his phone. "Hotch, she still on the line?"

Hotch winced when he heard Peter kick Genevieve. "Yeah she is."

"We got to find her. Garcia have you traced the call yet?" Morgan asked, not even in the mood for pet names with her.

"Almost, just—" Suddenly the line went dead and Garcia slammed her hands on the keyboard. "He found the phone!"

"Reid's on his way here with the local police." JJ told them. "How is... She's not on the line anymore, is she? Hotch when Reid gets here you should tell him to go to the hospital. He has a concussion, but considering it is Genevieve he won't."

Reid came into Garcia's office. "Please tell me you found her?!"  
"Not yet. He found her phone." Garcia told him.

"Damnit! He has mine and Gen's guns! He took them and he took her! He is going to kill her! She can't die!" Reid teared up. "This is all my fault!"

"Hey Spence. It's not your fault. Where do you think he may have taken her? Is there anywhere that may have been important to them in his eyes?" JJ asked.

"I can't remember... Why can't I remember?!" Reid was so mad at himself.

"Hey kid, you have a concussion. Don't beat yourself up." Morgan told him.

Reid's phone rang it was Genevieve, he answered quickly. He put it on speaker so the others could hear. "Sweetheart?! Are you okay?"

"I'm alright." She smiled into the phone, happy to hear his voice.

"Tell him!" Peter slapped her.

Genevieve coughed. "I don't want to play Peter! Just kill me and let them go!"

"Keep her talking." Garcia whispered. She was trying to trace the call.

"Gen?! What are you talking about?" Reid asked her.

"He's going to send a link to Garcia's email..." Genevieve coughed. "Don't use it!" Peter hit her again and hung the phone up.

"Garcia, did you get the link?" Hotch asked.

"Yeah looks like a video chat room... I'll open it and we can see him but he can also see us." Garcia said.

"Reid, come here." Hotch said. They put him in front of the camera and opened the link. The video feed came up. Genevieve was tied up. Peter was behind the camera.

"Look who came to play Genevieve! It's your boyfriend." Peter laughed.

"You bastard!" Reid yelled.

Garcia tried to track them. "He's rerouting to a different IP address every thirty seconds... He's smart." She whispered.

"Read them the names, beautiful." Peter said.

"You can kill me! Just don't hurt them!" Genevieve cried.

"Read the damn names or I kill all of them and you!"

"I'm so sorry..." She looked at Reid on the screen in front of her. "Fran Morgan, Henry LaMontagne..." Her voice cracked. "Jack Hotchner... and Diana Reid..."

"Oh my god..." JJ said.

Peter turned the camera on himself. "How about I tell you the rules of this little game? I am talking to the whole BAU team! You will not be able to warn any of your families because I have friends watching them so we will be able to kill them even with a warning." He showed the monitors with a live feed of each person that Genevieve named. He turned the camera back on himself. "Now here are the rules... Genevieve can choose to save one of your family members and I will inflict pain on her instead or I can kill them. Knowing her, your loved ones will be just fine."

"Damn, we have to do something..." Morgan said, looking at Hotch.

Hotch looked at Reid. "Reid, think, has she ever told you anywhere that they went to when they were kids?"

"Let's begin, shall we?!" Peter went over to Genevieve.

"Hold on a minute, let me think... I know she said something..." Reid thought.

"Do you want to save Fran Morgan? She's Derek's mother. She seems like such a sweet lady." Peter said.

"Don't kill her!" Genevieve yelled. Peter cut her arm with a knife.

"Think faster, Reid. He's hurting her!" Morgan said.

"I'm trying..." Reid said.

"How about Jennifer's baby boy, Henry?" Peter laughed. "You love Henry. You babysit him with your new boy toy."

"Shut up! Don't you dare hurt Henry!" Genevieve yelled at him. Peter pulled up her shirt and cut her stomach. Genevieve screamed in pain.

Reid winced at her scream. "Baby I'm trying... I am so sorry."

"Aaron Hotchner didn't even want you on the team. He put you in danger. Why should you save his little boy?" Peter got close to her.

"He may not like me, but that team is the closest thing I have to family because of your father! Jack didn't do anything. You can kill me!" She spit in his face.

Peter wiped his face. "Fine, we'll just go for the neck!" He went at her with the knife.

"No!" Reid yelled.

Peter looked at the screen. "Oh yeah. We still have your boyfriend's mom on the table. We'll be doing something a little different for her life. Spencer... Choose. Your mom or girlfriend?"

"Spence... It's okay." Genevieve smiled at him. "Save your mom..."

"Gen, I love you. I choose my mom..." He teared up. "Don't hurt my mom."

"Good choice, Dr. Reid. You'll find this interesting. I've invented a new drug that can kill a person in a little more than three hours, but she will be in agony the entire time. She won't be able to breathe very well because her lungs will feel like they are on fire and after working hard to keep her alive; her body will eventually just shut down. Once I inject it, you will have three hours to find her and find the cure!" He injected it into her. "But on the bright side, all your families are alive and well! Anything you want to tell them Genevieve?"

Cortese remembered Reid telling her about Tobias Hankel. "Genesis 23:4..."

Reid remembered instantly. "There is a cemetery by her old house. There's an abandon house by it, they used it as a clubhouse!"

TO BE CONTINUED...

"One of the deep secrets in life is that all that is really worth doing is what we do for others." – Lewis Carroll


End file.
